Chapter 145 His Soul and Mine

Chapter 145 His Soul and Mine
His Soul and Mine

Liam’s POV

For a moment, I froze.

My eyes kept jumping between the path Ethan had disappeared down and Dylan’s body lying in chains near the ritual ground. My mind was being pulled in two different directions. Every part of me wanted to run to Dylan, to make sure he was still breathing, to see if he was alive.

But Ethan was escaping.

Every second I stood there gave him more distance.

“Go,” Vivian said, stepping in front of Dylan. Even after everything she’d been through, her voice was steady. “I’ll protect him. Go after Ethan, Liam.”

I didn’t hesitate again.

The moment the words left her mouth, I took off.

I followed the broken branches, the crushed leaves, and the faint scent Ethan had left behind. We tore through the forest, weaving between thick trees and uneven ground. The deeper I went, the colder the air became. The forest felt unnaturally quiet, as if the woods themselves had witnessed the ritual and were holding their breath.

“Ethan!” I roared, my voice echoing through the trees. “You can’t hide forever! Get out here and face me, you coward!”

Only silence answered me.

I slowed just enough to search my surroundings, my eyes sweeping over every shadow while my ears caught every rustle of leaves and snapping twigs. He was close. I could feel it.

Then something ripped across my shoulder.

A sharp burst of pain exploded through me before I even saw him.

I staggered forward, clenching my teeth as warm blood soaked through my shirt. I spun around, catching only the briefest glimpse of Ethan slipping behind a thick tree before vanishing again.

My anger finally broke free.

Every bit of control I’d been holding onto disappeared in an instant. The part of me that still clung to being human vanished beneath a wave of pure vampire instinct. My muscles tightened, my senses sharpened, and the rage burning inside me drowned out everything else.

I wasn’t chasing him anymore. I was hunting him.

This time, Ethan wasn’t fast enough.

I caught him as he tried to dart between the trees. My hand shot out, wrapping around his throat before he could escape. I lifted him off the ground like he weighed nothing and slammed him hard against the nearest tree. The impact shook the trunk, sending leaves and broken bark raining down around us.

“Why?” I growled, my voice so deep and rough that I barely recognized it. My fingers tightened around his neck until I felt him struggling for air. “Why did you do all of this?”

Ethan let out a weak, broken laugh.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he forced himself to smile.

“I wanted… to be stronger,” he gasped. “Stronger than anyone who has ever lived. I needed more years… more power. This was the only way.”

His words only fed the fire inside me.

“Do you know the worst mistake you ever made?” I shouted, my entire body trembling with rage. “It was touching Dylan. I will make sure I rip you apart.”

He laughed out like I just made a joke.

“You do love him that much?” He asked. “A human and a vampire can’t work. You’ve tasted his blood, right? He’ll eventually grow old and die and leave you in perpetual pain. You’ll feel every single pain that humans feel but you can’t die, do you know why? Because your blood is not only linked with his but your soul.”

“It’s not in your place to worry about me.” I said and hit him hard on the face.

“You started a war, Ethan! People are dead because of you. Families have been destroyed. You didn’t just chase power… you dragged our entire world into chaos.”

I slammed him against the tree again, my eyes locked on his.

“You performed experiments on innocent children and turned them into vampires that need human blood to survive.” I said. “Your selfishness is about to ruin the world.”

Ethan laughed.

He actually laughed.

The sound sent a chill through me. Blood bubbled at the corners of his mouth, staining his teeth, but somehow he still managed to smile. It wasn’t the laugh of a man who was afraid. It was the laugh of someone who believed he’d already won.

“It’s already done,” he said between ragged breaths. His voice was weak, but the calm in it made my blood boil. “If you want to kill me, then do it. Nothing’s going to change now. I’ve released them to the world you love so much.”

Those words shattered the last bit of control I had left.

Everything I’d seen tonight flashed through my mind at once. Dylan chained to the altar, the people who had died because of Ethan’s greed. The fear, the pain, the destruction… all of it came crashing down on me.

I couldn’t think anymore.

I reacted with a furious roar, I drove my hand straight into his chest.

Ethan’s scream ripped through the forest, echoing between the trees before suddenly stopping. His body went still for a brief second, then all the strength left him. His eyes stared back at me, empty and lifeless.

I pulled my hand free and let his body fall.

He hit the ground with a dull thud and didn’t move again.

I stood there for only a heartbeat, staring at him as my chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. My hands were covered in blood, but I felt nothing. There was no satisfaction, no relief. Killing Ethan hadn’t erased what he’d done. It hadn’t brought back the lives he’d taken, and it hadn’t told me whether Dylan was still alive.

That thought hit me like a punch to the chest.

“Dylan…”

I spun around and took off running.

I pushed my body harder than I ever had before, crashing through bushes and leaping over fallen branches without slowing down. My lungs burned, my muscles screamed, but I ignored every bit of it. There was only one place I needed to be.

I had to get back to him.

When I finally burst out of the trees, the battlefield came into view.

The fight wasn’t over yet, but it was close.

Rosalie and the others had gained the upper hand. Ethan’s remaining followers were being driven back, their formation falling apart as they tried desperately to survive. It was clear they had lost. The war was ending.

Relief washed over me, if only for a moment.

I found Dylan.

The relief disappeared so fast it left me feeling sick.

My heart dropped as I saw him lying exactly where we’d left him. The chains had been removed, but he hadn’t moved. He looked so lifeless that, for one terrifying second, I couldn’t breathe.

“No…”

I sprinted toward him, weaving through the bodies of fallen enemies and discarded weapons scattered across the blood-soaked ground. My legs felt heavy with exhaustion, but fear drove me forward faster than I thought possible.

I reached him and dropped to my knees so hard they slammed into the dirt.

Carefully, I slipped one arm behind his shoulders and lifted him into my embrace.

“Dylan…” His name came out as nothing more than a whisper.

His skin was cold against mine and frighteningly pale. He looked fragile in my arms, as though the slightest touch might make him disappear.

My heart pounded as I looked at his face, silently begging for any sign that he was still with me.